Venerable Thich Chanh Tue actively engages in the fight against B-52s

Venerable Thich Chanh Tue whose birth name is Dinh Huu Thuan has been known widely by the monks, nuns, Buddhist followers at Truc Lam Dai Giac Zen Monastery in Lao Cai province thanks to his virtue and contribution to the monastery and the locality. However, few people know that the venerable used to be a soldier and was given the title “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” for his outstanding feats-of-arms in the Hanoi - Hai Phong Air Defense Campaign in late 1972.

Hero in battle

Venerable Thich Chanh Tue  was an invited guest of the freshly-ended artistic program "Forever resounding the epic of sky" organized by the People's Army Newspaper in celebration of the 78th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22, 1944 - 2022), and the 50 years of the "Hanoi - Dien Bien Phu in the air" victory (December 1972 - 2022).

Venerable Thich Chanh Tue (fourth from the right) at the artistic program “Forever resounding the epic of sky” hosted by the People’s Army Newspaper

In this program, when the organizers presented flowers and gifts to express gratitude to the heroes of the People's Armed Forces who directly fought and achieved outstanding feats-of-arms in the Hanoi - Hai Phong Air Defense Campaign in late 1972, a monk took the floor, surprising all participants.

As introduced by the MC of the program and shared by the monk himself, he is Hero of the People’s Armed Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Huu Thuan, former officer commanding Company 45, Regiment 291, Radar Corps (present Division 365, the Air Defense - Air Force Service). In the 12-day campaign in late 1972, he was the first to detect and confirm that B-52s attacked Hanoi, importantly contributing to the victory of the campaign.

Recalling his old memories, Venerable Thich Chanh Tue said that on December 18, 1972, his unit opened P-12 radar from 18:00 to 20:00. At 19:02, radar operator Kieu Van Tiet detected an abnormality that jamming was on the screens. With his experience gained during the time B-52 bombers bombarded Military Region 4 and Hai Phong in the past as well as the times the bombers experienced long-distance training, Dinh Huu Thuan in his capacity as head of Company 45, immediately turned on P-35 radar, put his unit's command post at the highest alert level, and immediately reported to the commanding officer of the regiment on the sign of B-52 operations.

Dinh Huu Thuan kept monitoring the signals carefully. Radar station’s chief Nghiem Dinh Tich reported that with too much jamming on the radar scope, two radar crews could not identify the target signal.

Based on his combat experience, company captain Dinh Huu Thuan instructed plotter Le Truong Ky to mark the position of the B-52 on the plotting board. The announcer Nguyen Minh Dao  took notes. Two radio operators reported the situation to higher level’s headquarters with the sound of B-52s to bomb Hanoi, and at the same time quickly reported the situation to Regiment Commanding officer  Do Van Nam.

Two minutes later, a bell rang, an urgent voice from the other end asked for speaking to Dinh Huu Thuan, introducing that he was deputy chief of the staff of the Radar Corps Hua Manh Tai. Officer Tai requested Thuan what he should base on to say that B-52s attacked Hanoi. Thuan answered that “I would take my life to guarantee it.”

The first group of B-52s arrived in Hoa Binh's sky. The P-35 radar station reported that and the missiles in Hoa Binh were fired at them. However, the following groups of bombers passed through the air defense power of Hoa Binh to head to Hanoi.

Covered with dense layers of jamming, groups of B-52s became invisible to our radars. However, smart and brave troops of Radar Company 45 were still able to track the exact position of the B-52 and constantly reported it to the higher level. When detecting the first group of B-52s some 350km from Hanoi, Dinh Huu Thuan and his crews confirmed that the B-52 would hit Hanoi 35 minutes earlier.

Later on, officer Dinh Huu Thuan received a call from the regiment commanding officer . During the call, Thuan was informed that in the latest battle, thanks to the accurate information about the B-52 from Company 45, Hanoi won over the bombers. Hanoi’s missiles downed three B-52s, including one B-53D crashing in Duong Bridge area.

During the 12-day campaign, from the first to the last battle, Radar Company 45 under the command of its captain Dinh Huu Thuan gave timely and accurate notifications to higher level, contributing to the victory over the B-52 and helping people in Hanoi evacuate, take shelter in a timely manner and reduce casualties.

Attaching his life to religion

In December 1989, Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Huu Thuan retired from the service. He worked hard to raise his three children. In 2006, when his children were mature enough, he decided to become a monk. He shared that he completed his duties to the Fatherland and the family. His religious name is Chanh Tue. He specializes in Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen practice.

A Zen master at Truc Lam Dai Giac Zen Monastery said that Venerable Thich Chanh Tue is a generous, tolerant, and humble person. He instructes Buddhist followers to study Buddhism, jointly organizes courses for young people and children during summer vacation, during which participants are taught to respect grandparents and parents, and study hard to become good citizens.   

The venerable often encourages followers to engage in charitable activities to assist the poor and protect the environment, especially those from ethnic groups to rise in life and keep studying.

Translated by Mai Huong